Revamped shuttle service fits class schedules better

A recently approved Yale College Council proposal to alter the University’s local shuttle service will soon become a reality, Support Services Director Don Relihan said.

YCC Vice President Nirupam Sinha ’05 said Wednesday that he has been working with Relihan and other administrators to add one stop, change the location of another stop, and alter shuttle times to fit student class schedules. Relihan said he has agreed to make these changes to the system and hopes to have them in place before winter recess.

In September, the University added a new minibus loop that runs from central campus to Science Hill. The newly approved changes will affect buses running on this route.

The new stop will be at 225 Prospect St. This is near most undergraduate science classes, Sinha said.

“It just made a lot of sense,” Sinha said. “It is what undergraduates mean when they say ‘Science Hill.'”

Another stop will be moved from the corner of Whitney Avenue and Sachem Street to the intersection of Hillhouse Avenue and Sachem.

Addressing the third change, Relihan said the new times will allow a student to arrive at class 10 minutes before most classes start on the hour or half-hour.

“[With the new schedule] undergraduates can get up to Science Hill 10 minutes before the hour and 20 minutes after,” Relihan said.

The entire loop will consist of six primary stops, Sinha said. The stops, in order, will be at Canner and Prospect streets, Orange and Willow streets, Sachem Street and Hillhouse Avenue, Phelps Gate, York and Elm streets, and 225 Prospect Street.

Relihan said a shuttle will cover the entire loop in 30 minutes. The first shuttle will leave Canner and Prospect streets at 8:25 a.m. and the last shuttle will arrive at Phelps Gate at 6:10 p.m., Sinha said.

Sinha said undergraduates can use the Sachem Street and Hillhouse Avenue stop to come back from Science Hill in order to avoid the part of the loop that extends to Canner Street and gets back to Sachem Street via Orange Street, Humphrey Street, and Whitney Avenue.

Sinha said that while he had hoped students would only have to wait five to 10 minutes for a shuttle on their way down Science Hill, the current proposed schedule would make them wait about 15 minutes at the Sachem Street and Hillhouse Avenue stop.

YCC President Elliott Mogul ’05 said he thinks people will use the new shuttle service. Mogul said he thinks the current Science Hill shuttle has not been well-promoted, so not many students use it. He said the YCC will advertise the new schedule on www.yalestation.org, put up posters on campus and distribute maps of the new route to students.

“When students realize it fits their schedules, they will use it,” Mogul said.

New signs at bus stops on the route are being considered, Sinha said.

“The transportation administrators are actively pursuing the possibility of signs at these bus stops with the city,” Sinha said.

Physics major David Reiman ’05 said he liked the idea behind most of the changes. He said he rides his bike to class, but if he did not have one, he would use the new shuttle service.

Relihan said the next step is to communicate the changes to current shuttle riders to avoid inconveniencing them. He said more brochures will have to be printed.